Sanctions are a powerful expression of the collective voice and the collective will of the international community. As such, their symbolic impact is undeniable. Their practical impact has been demonstrated in several cases where sanctions have helped to prod conflicting parties towards compromise.
Topic:
United Nations, Sanctions, Conflict, International Community, and UN Security Council
WFPG's Guide to Women Leaders in International Affairs highlights women shaping foreign policy around the world and the role that they play as leaders, diplomats, and policymakers. The Guide provides an index of prominent women from across the international community, including heads of state and government, government ministers and diplomats, and leaders of international organizations and corporations.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Government, United Nations, Women, Leadership, and NGOs
HILDE HAALAND KRAMER and STEVE A. YETIV argue that the UN Security Council’s response to global terrorism has been more forceful and comprehensive since September 11 and that it has broken some new ground. The authors posit that although the UN remains controversial in the United States, Washington benefited from its response to September 11, as imperfect as it was.
Topic:
Terrorism, United Nations, 9/11, and UN Security Council
Several months ago, during the finalization of the plan to replace the United Nations’ Commission on Human Rights with the new UN Human Rights Council, John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, said with characteristic flourish, “We want a butterfly. We’re not going to put lipstick on a caterpillar and declare it a suc- cess.” Is the new UN Human Rights Council a butterfly or a cater- pillar (with or without lipstick)?
Bolton’s pungent remark rests on three underlying assumptions: first, UN reform was urgently needed in the human rights field because its predecessor, the UN Commission on Human Rights, was a failure; second, the cause of failure was the takeover of the Commission by undemocratic and repressive states and the resultant hijacking of the human rights agenda; third, the best way to make the UN effective and legitimate in the human rights field was to restrict the membership of its premier body, i.e., the Council, to a handful of liberal democratic states and have them act as the custodians and enforcers of human rights. Bolton’s critique of the Commission (if not his lan- guage) and his vision to go forward have been shared widely by many academics, policy specialists, and western international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) that specialize in human rights advocacy.
Topic:
Human Rights, International Cooperation, United Nations, and NGOs
Alistair Millar, Jason Ipe, George A. Lopez, Tona Boyd, Linda Gerber, and David Cortright
Publication Date:
09-2005
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Fourth Freedom Forum
Abstract:
The effectiveness of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) depends on its ability to keep pace with transformations in the global security environment. When the CTC was established in the wake of the September 2001 terrorist attacks, the
primary target was understood to be Al Qaeda and its international network of related terrorist groups. In order to secure its central role and relevance among multilateral counter-terrorism efforts, the CTC must find more creative ways to collect, assess, and disseminate information about current counter-terrorism capacities and to facilitate the provision of needed technical assistance by potential donors in a timely and sustainable manner.
David Cortright, George A. Lopez, Alistair Millar, and Linda Gerber
Publication Date:
09-2004
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Fourth Freedom Forum
Abstract:
The project examines how the CTC and the CTED can more effectively implement the mandates of Security Council Resolutions 1373, 1377, 1456, 1535, and other relevant measures. The project addresses the following specific research topics: financial asset controls; technical assistance to enhance member state implementation capacity; international, regional, and subregional coordination; linkages between counter-terrorism assistance and development aid; and the need to respect human rights while implementing counter-terrorism mandates.
Topic:
International Cooperation, United Nations, Counter-terrorism, and UN Security Council
School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA), Princeton University
Abstract:
Increasingly, the world’s poorest and most marginalized are
also those most affected by armed conflict. The complicated
interactions among modern conflicts, poverty, hunger, and disease have led to the emergence of the notion of the “complex
emergency.” The widespread occurrence of complex emergencies in the world’s poorest countries, where development efforts are the most needed, has grave consequences for human
development. Through an application of quantitative methods,
this paper examines the relationship between complex emergencies and development using the human development index
developed by the United Nations Development Programme
and the typology of complex emergencies developed by the
United Nations University World Institute for Development
Economics Research. The study demonstrates a relationship
between levels of development and types of complex emergencies and suggests that an index which considers the multiple
manifestations of complex emergencies would provide a better measurement than a single quantifier. These results point
to the need to situate development efforts in the context of
complex emergencies in order for them to meet the needs of
the world’s most vulnerable populations.
Topic:
Development, United Nations, Armed Conflict, and Emergencies
Research and Policy Committee of the Committee for Economic Development
Publication Date:
07-2003
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Conference Board
Abstract:
In the developing world, women generally face greater difficulty than men in securing necessary resources and basic services—education, health, and nutritional services, physical and financial capital, and land—that would make them more productive and allow them to earn higher incomes.
In this report, CED calls attention to the role women play in developing countries. This update expands on that recommendation and goes further to suggest specifically that U.S.-based businesses should support the equal status of women in all of their practices and programs in developing countries. They also should support U.S. ratification of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
Topic:
Development, Poverty, United Nations, Women, and Economic Development
Reviews the problems of contemporary peace operations, recent reform proposals, and the requirements for successful operations. Includes a detailed proposal for enhancing and reorganizing the capacities of the UN to support and direct peace operations and for establishing a UN legion of three brigades.
Topic:
Defense Policy, United Nations, Peacekeeping, Reform, and Peace